Poetic Justice
Buck Banks | Oct. 9, 2026
In the diplomatic ranks, trained professionals toil,
To keep the peace and tamp down foreign turmoil.
But for Greek ambassador,
Trump picked an artful dodger —
The grifting, drunken blackmailer Kimberly Guilfoyle.
Verbatim
“One woman at a rally in New Jersey told me last week that she was ‘nauseously optimistic.’ That may capture a lot of people’s last-minute jitters.”
— Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), quoted by Axios, on what Democrats feel ahead of the midterm elections.
“I think Congress made a mistake not protesting turning the Rose Garden into what looks like the entrance to Liberace’s bathroom.”
— Former President Bill Clinton, quoted by The Wrap.
“Boy, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. It feels like a real desperation play to me, because it has got zero basis in the law.”
— Republican election law expert Ben Ginsberg, quoted by Politico, on the Trump administration’s effort to invalidate Alaska’s election results.
Numerati
3,824
A record number of women are running for state legislative seats this November, more than two-thirds of whom are Democrats, reports Florida Phoenix. Across the 46 states with legislative seats on the ballot, a total of 3,824 women are running — up from 2022’s previous record of 3,621 women candidates, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Women make up 35.5% of all state legislative candidates this cycle. Currently, women hold about one-third of state legislative seats across the country — a record level of representation but nowhere near parity.
Comment »
$1.4 billion
“Prediction markets about the 2026 midterm elections have surpassed $1.4 billion in trading volume as Election Day fast approaches,” CNN reports. “This year has seen massive growth in the prediction industry, where people can bet on real-world events like sports, entertainment and the weather. While small-scale election markets have been around for a while, they gained traction before the 2024 presidential election and have seen huge numbers for the 2026 midterms.”
Comment »
-35 points
G. Elliot Morris: “Low-knowledge 2024 voters say they backed Trump by 8 points, according to our poll. Today they give him a net job approval of ?27, a 35-point shift. Compare that to Trump’s approval rating among voters who got both questions right: These voters backed Harris by 1 point and now give Trump a net ?24 approval, a 23-point shift. … Low-information voters have moved against Trump at a higher rate than high-information voters, by 12 points.”
Comment »
31%
President Donald ?Trump’s approval rating fell to a record low as Americans worried about high gasoline prices and appeared ready to punish his Republican Party in the November 3 congressional elections, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Monday. Some 31% of Americans approve of Trump’s ?performance in office, down a percentage point from two weeks earlier and the lowest level in ?either of his presidential terms, the four-day poll showed.
Comment »
63% to 38%
KFF Poll: “With the 2026 midterm campaigns in full swing and early voting about to begin, there is a wide enthusiasm gap between partisan voters, with Democratic voters 25 percentage points more likely than Republican voters to say they are ‘more motivated’ than usual to vote (63% vs. 38%).”
Comment »




America is turning blue with voter regrets. It will be a very blue Christmas with George Bush as our President.
Thanks “Vice” as well!
We can not be satisfied until right wing conservatism is dead forever and the political spectrum only swings back from progressive to liberal to moderate. The fact that these neo cons even garner 35% approval is scary.
Wow, a chart of states not to visit!. Now let’s see… Oklahoma, Alabama, Idaho…
Trust me, you ain’t missin’ shit.
It is easy, from the map, to identify the “shit for brains” states. The people who vote for Bush even though it is not in their best interests. The people who believe strongly in the tooth fairy and the easter bunny and all the other invisible friends that promise them infinite pleasure if they just vote for Bush.
In short, the inbred, incestuous, moronic, bigotted, undereducated fucktards who think Bush is a wonderful president.
NO! Karl Rove, the Rasputin of the West Wing DC, is the one to thank/ He planned all of W’s steps leading to today. He is the one who approves/disapproves everything in and out of the Oval Office. W simply followed the plan and went to ride his bike or play in his gym.
Don’t believe me? Ask the Dick Cheney! He stopped cleaning up after the messes of the spoiled brat Lil George!
Read the book about Rove written by the same people who wrote “BUSH’S BRAIN” and you’ll see what I mean.
Better late than never, I suppose but if the people who don’t support him now had opened their eyes a little sooner (October 2004, for example)we’d be a lot better off today
It might mean something if the Republicans didn’t steal elections.
The conservatives say that Liberal Democrats are “soft” on National Security?
4 years after Pearl Harbor, we Liberal Democrats had troops
patrolling both downtown Tokyo and Berlin. We took down two
fascist empires on both sides of the World!
More than 4 years after 9/11, the conservatives can’t take down one, crazy terrorist on a mule in the mountains of Afganistan!
C’mon…PLEASE! JUST THIS ONE GUY!! …pretty please? …c’mon…
I would enjoy the blue/red picture a lot better if I actually had confidence in our electoral integrity. The last two elections, the Conyers report, and now the GAO report all point to the fact that it’s not who votes that counts, but who counts the votes. At this very minute, local governments are stampeding to spend billions of tax dollars buying up more of these flawed and insecure machines that are the Trojan horse and Achilles heel of our day. No responsible business would use such a flawed system. Why should we entrust our democracy to them?
Dont kid yourselves. Approval is a non issue until we have legitimate elections again. As a voter in Florida who saw my polling place locked up 2 hours before it was supposed to close in the last democratic primary, I am fully aware how much the elections are compromised.And strangely enough, the people who were running that polling place were openly hostile to the democratic candidate running.These people will stop at nothing to retain power now. The touch screen machines are ALL rigged to insure a republican win. THAT IS A FACT! If the democrats do manage somehow to regain a majority, the first action that needs to be taken after Bush’s impeachment and removal from office, is to make the act of voting without verifiability ILLEGAL in all 50 states. Then there needs to be a purge of any and all of the traitors, both democrat and republican, that condoned the whole computer voting thing. We need a God Damn constitutional amendment to that effect. The chart above, to me is kind of a joke, I dont believe the majority of people EVER embraced this “president”, and the corporate owned media simply invented the notion of popularity
Richard Nixon won a landslide vote in 1972, running up a popular vote margin of nearly 18 million and winning the Electoral College 520-17. By the time he resigned, in 1974, it was hard to find anyone who would admit that they voted for the swine. George Bush is certainly capable of out-doing “Tricky Dick.”
Agree with Mr. Wouk–Bush is psychologically incapable of changing course, or admitting a mistake. Having killed and maimed uncounted thousands on both sides, the only next big lie left for him to put forth is to declare “victory” in Iraq, pull out all the troops, and leave the mess for others to clean up, totally consistent with his own historical pattern.
John, Carlo and Joan Brunwasser are right: it’s not the one who votes, it’s who counts the votes. (BTW, it’s not the last two elections, it’s the last THREE election: don’t forget 2002). This tinge of blue is meaningless. We live in a dictatorship which will soon be under marshall law and an effective totalitarian police state!
Look at “freshman” Jean Schmidt who slandered Murtha: I believe that she’s a Diebold Rethug operative who “beat” Gulf War II Vet Paul Hackett only when there was a computer glitch (read: Diibold fraud) in Ohio’s 2nd that gave her the seat by less than 5,000 votes.
Hell, Hitler didn’t even win this way!
It`s about time we get thold America back But look at the damage they have did already. I can only hope we don`t have electrnic voting machines are we will be loser again.Lets see the whole map blue.
I am from Oklahoma. It is truly pathetic even here in Oklahoma City. The right wing radio jockturds still extoll Bush and his wisdom. Some of the most useful idiots live and breathe here. . Pathetic. The Daily Oklahoman has blood all over its hands and prints nothing but Krauthhammer and George Will. Of course on the issue of torture honorable senators Tom Coburn and Inhofe were with Bush all the way. Truly shameful. However I think Jean Schmidt should be the red state icon.
The GAO report verifies that the computers were not secure and will not be secure for 2006. See http://www.gao.gov-new.items/d05956.pdf for the 107 page report. To find the links for analyses of the eight million vote shift in 2004, mostly in swing states go to election.solarbus.org We need paper ballots. To Margurite Niven- Michael Moore said yesterday that if the two year old spills the milk, it isn’t the two year old who cleans it up.
Has anyone stopped to wonder if “Herr Schickelgruber Bush” and “Herr Dicksfuhrer Cheney” are products of inbreeding? Bush certainly proves Darwin right, and Cheney proves that the Indian truly did fuck the buffalo!
Even Texas is below 50%!!! *dances*
To all those who commented that these stats don’t mean anything until we have legitimate elections again: You’re right, but we can still take a moment to feel warm and fuzzy inside on this holiday.
calm down, folks, there are legal ways to pull diebold’s fangs. Buy it. hostile takeover springs to mind. Investigate it. there’s a whistleblower in there somewhere. (all this horseshit, must be a pony somewhere) I’m sure Dick Daley could recommend tactics and strategies… and there are many down and dirty fighters among the Democrats, even principled men and women of ethical integrity know what it takes to bring down the Diebold machines.
But, best of all, the GOP doesn’t want to win in 06, or 08– they don’t want to take the blame for the consequences of this administration. Bush has done one thing well, he has strengthened his enemies, and fragmented NATO, too. Nothing unites people like a common threat. Only the “Patriot Act” could restore our awareness of the absolute necessity of our constitutional rights. Only the Iraq war could expose the corporate takeover of govt., the media and the courts.
Exxon may never pay the five billion dollar fine for the Valdez, but the GOP will pay the price for messin with liberals, just like Hitler and Tojo. One cannot impose order upon a free society, they have to want order. And we are still Americans, and we will remain free. If our freedom necessitates loss of respect for our current govt, we will establish a new one. The GOP was out of business in the middle of the 1800’s, and had to rename itself– now they’re in a similar predicament.
Counting votes is so critical to our freedoms that a solution will be found or extreme repercussions will result, which Jefferson said wasn’t such a bad thing, every twenty years or so. But we can do it legally.
My final comment, it will be revealed that 9/11 was expected and allowed to happen by people who needed a “Pearl Harbor” to allow them to invade Iraq. That’s treason.
Could You Imagine If the Presdiental Election would’ve Been Held this Year in 05, or Katrina Struck and Hit the Gulf Coast in 04.
Presidnet Bush would’ve Lost in a Landslide Defeat.
Truly chilling: Who are the 30 something percent of the American population who still have no problem with an Alfred E. Newman look-alike who has, in the space of a mere 5 years, presided over this nation’s two greatest failures of intelligence (as opposed to intelligence failures)-who went on VACATION immediately after reading a CIA brief titled “bin Laden determined to strike inside US” on August 6, 2001; who never even owned a passport prior to stealing the 2000 election; who has driven the nation into an economic abyss which will almost certainly take several generations to dig out from; who talks of God, yet kills tens of thousands; who, through complicity, tolerated the outing of an undercover CIA operative engaged in, yes, finding and foiling the proliferation of WMD; who went to a fundraiser, then strummed a guitar as thousands were drowning in New Orleans; an idiot, so stupid, so developmentally retarded as to invite an armed opposition to attack US troops with a “bring ’em
on” challenge; who has neither the conscience not decency to attend a single fallen soldier’s funeral, yet has no problem using those still breathing and in one piece as a backdrop – a collective prop, if you will – at every available opportunity; who has alienated nearly every ally this nation has. The list goes on and on but more at a later opportunity.
The irony, of course, is that these “anti-government”, anti-welfare state” folks all come from states who receive Federal tax dollars well in excess of those that they contribute.
So, I’m going to be a conservative in this instance and agree: It’s time to dismantle the welfare state; cut off the welfare that hard-working, tax-paying Blue state people have been doling out to these ne’er-do-wells and let them earn their keep. It’ll be a lesson in “personal responsibility” these “personal responsibility” parrots will never forget, nor want to relive.
It’s time that AL, MS, TN, Idaho, Kansas, IA, KY, Alaska and the rest of the “Welfare states” earn their keep. Mr Conservative, it’s f**king time to stop collecting your farm subsidy check on the way to visit your parents who collect social security and Medicare, driving on highways built with tax dollars from California, NY, NJ, MA, et. al.. and then moaning about big government and welfare queens.
You’re Republicans right? Well it’s time to sink or swim; no more free lunches – you welfare kings and queens.
Well, good to know that when our democracy turns blue from being strangled to the point of asphyxiation, we finally wake up!
As a liberal in Alabama, let me assure you all that there are some of us here with brains and we do use them…unfortunately, we are often cowed into silence for fear of losing jobs, friends and family, and so much more. I have had bumper stickers destroyed and removed from my car, political signage torn up and left on my lawn, and endured actual yelling and cursing from complete strangers over my public demonstration of hatred for the Bush crowd. We are not all inbred, stupid religious nuts…we are however, outnumbered. But, we stay and continue to fight the good fight in the hopes that we can change things. Not an easy feat in a red state…stupidity is a strong weapon when used by the multitude.
this is obviously a nice positive bit of news….but as others have noted, until the votes are being counted accurately, it means little. that being said, it sure is nice to see texas in the same bracket as oregon. and let’s not bag on folks who live in more conservative places. it’s very easy to be a lib’rul in liberal areas, but as a liberal in a conservative part of california, it’s harder to be a liberal when everyone ridicules. anyway, good to see that the scales are coming off the eyes. just wonder why it took so long…and at what price.
this is obviously a nice positive bit of news….but as others have noted, until the votes are being counted accurately, it means little. that being said, it sure is nice to see texas in the same bracket as oregon. and let’s not bag on folks who live in more conservative places. it’s very easy to be a lib’rul in liberal areas, but as a liberal in a conservative part of california, it’s harder to be a liberal when everyone ridicules. anyway, good to see that the scales are coming off the eyes. just wonder why it took so long…and at what price.
I happen to live in a purple state, Oklahoma. And really think the time has come for Democrats to get an Amendment passed (when they become the majority again) which would require that all Voting Machines dispense each voter a serial number for verification purposes which could then be fed into a statewide database to determine if your vote was counted. Our votes will NOT be secure until this is done. All it takes is a GOP backed company such as Diebold to destroy everything we know as life, liberty, freedom and the pursuit of happiness. We should all worry about the so called ‘Patriot Act’ and how knee-jerk- reactionary laws such as these could be used against any American who is a dissenter of the GOP and their policies. I am also in favor of changing the standard voting day of Tuesdays to Saturdays. I feel that it could make a difference in getting more people out to the polls. Thanks for letting me sound off. Susan PS:Kaye in Alabama..keep your chin up!!
In answer to the resident of Ok City, we liberals in this area are reading the Oklahoma Observer and the Oklahoma Gazette….Gaylord’s Daily Oklahoman rag hasn’t been read by any native with an ounce of brains so why not hop on our bandwagon. There are plenty of Oklahomans who abhor that drugstore cowboy from Texas and we knew what he was about even before he ran his Rangers into the dust and before he mangled the Texas Governor’s office.
Don’t think for one sec all of us are brainless! Rhodes scholars abound from this state among other brilliant minds….We only need a REAL Christian Science Monitor type of journalism. Anyone who wants to establish a competitive paper and/or radio/tv station is welcome in Oklahoma! Just come on down!
I agree with the whole issue resting on whether or not we are able to have legitimate elections. Believe it or not, most states will not approve of the Diebold and other e-voting machines. There are only two states that held questionable “elections” as far as I know, and that is Florida and Ohio. As far as Ohio is concerned, the state Gov’t there is in alot ot legal trouble stemming from the e-voting machines.
I am curious to see what happens in ’06 regardless of whether or not e-voting is allowed. On the one hand, if the Dems do take back either Congress and the Senate or just Congress alone, the repugs are dead meat. Any fool would guess that Bush is gonna be impeached along with Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and Rove for all this shit. That simple fact alone makes me feel that there will be a big fight to shore up “wins” through rigged e-voting machines.
We were set up for this the moment Bush was selected for us!